The following table is a draft of the workplan for the Bras d’Or Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative. It is intended to translate the twelve planning tasks identified in the framework for the overall management plan for the Bras d’Or into the workplan for CEPI’s partners and secretariat. The progress of CEPI will be measured against the tasks identified in this workplan.
CEPI Planning Task Action for CEPI Workplan Timeline
Identify and assess environmental issues including their priority
Action: Develop a questionnaire to send to all watershed residents (or sample) including seasonal residents. This may include up to approx. 7000 homes.
Can include background on CEPI and use it as a two-way exchange of information.
Action: A strategy needs to be developed to undertake this work including costs and staff time required.
Strategy developed and questionnaire sent by Summer 2007
Assess environmental
conditions Action: State of the Bras d’Or Report: have meeting of key partners to develop a plan for how remaining sections of report will be completed. Action: Need to finalize water quality unit and develop a presentation suitable for Municipal
Councils to begin discussions regarding land use by-law changes.
Action: Finalize Bras d’or Ecosystem Overview and Assessment report including results from TEK workshop and figures.
Action: Finalize other units of SOE report using EOAR as background.
SOE Report: Establish Plan for completion of report: Summer 2006 EOAR: finalize report fall 2006
Assess management conditions (capacity and effectiveness)
Action: Complete assessment of management conditions, including roles and responsibilities of existing government departments, as thesis research (J. Naug, Masters of Planning, Dalhousie University).
Identify information needs
(natural and social science) Information needs should be identified from SOE and EOAR reports from above. Should also determine mapping requirements for the Bras d’Or.
Action: have a full meeting devoted to discussing mapping needs and resources.
Mapping Meeting by Fall 2006
Describe the vision, purpose, goals, objectives and
principles for improved management
Completed in Terms of Reference.
More detailed objectives may be developed in each sub-watershed based on local conditions, but should be consistent with overall objectives.
Complete CEPI Terms of Reference.
Describe the roles and responsibilities of the partners and an organizational model to implement plan
The workplan for CEPI will need to include specific roles for each of the partners. This will also apply for any projects that the CEPI agrees to undertake.
The current governance structure developed for CEPI provides the organizational model to implement the plan.
Action: ensure that each partner in CEPI has clarified their role in undertaking this workplan and that staff and resources are available to do so.
Ensure that this process also applies to any projects that CEPI undertakes.
Action: Include updates from each government partner at CEPI Steering Committee meetings on their roles and responsibilities.
Develop communications and public participation strategies for stakeholders
The group agreed that CEPI needs to begin communicating to the broader community of the Bras d’Or as a priority.
Action: The group agreed that the communication strategy (key messages, audiences, tools) will be developed by the end of the fiscal year (March 2007).
Action: the group agreed that the website to support the communication strategy will be completed by the end of the fiscal year (March 2007).
Action: A meeting to discuss the communication strategy will be organized during the summer of 2006. Meeting to discuss strategy summer 2006. Completion of communication strategy March 2007 Completion of website March 2007
and a monitoring program and necessary monitoring of these indicators. Can use SOE report and other sources.
Action: establish a Task Team to explore this and ensure that indicators and monitoring program are easily understood and suitable for community participants
Spring 2007.
Explore regulatory tools to improve management conditions
There are currently three areas where regulations are being re-examined/considered to better meet the objectives of CEPI.
1. Ballast water regulations: waiting for Transport Canada to finalize new regulations 2. Non-discharge designation for sewage from marine vessels: waiting for Transport
Canada to finalize regulations
3. Municipal Planning Strategy and Land-use By-law: could use a presentation
developed and presented to the municipal councils on the water quality unit of the SOE report.
Action: wait for changes to come from Transport Canada
Action: support completion of SOE report (water quality unit) and presentations to municipal councils by March 31, 2007.
Undertake presentations to Municipal Councils by March 31, 2007
Develop projects (assessment, restoration, monitoring, communications, evaluation) to meet objectives of plan
A number of projects have been discussed for CEPI including: Salmon Initiative
State of the Bras d’Or Questionnaire of all residents
Communication Strategy and Website River Denys Action Plan
Action: we will need to ensure that the priority projects (State of the Bras d’Or, Questionnaire, Communication Strategy) are all part of this workplan.
Develop a funding strategy There are a number of funding programs and foundations that should be explored for support for both projects and the secretariat.
CEPI should also seek and track in-kind support.
There are a number of larger industrial partners that could be potential sources of funding for CEPI including: NS Power, LNG, GP, Stora, and Bearhead LNG.
We will need to keep these primary industries well informed of our efforts this year so that if we
Funding task team to meet summer 2006.
need to seek project funding, that they will be familiar and supportive of our efforts. Action: Funding Task Team to meet to develop strategy.
Establish an evaluation and
review mechanism Can measure progress against objectives and dates established in this workplan. Action: present progress against this workplan monthly and to Senior Council annually.
Monthly progress reports of workplan.